Peter Shokeir | [email protected]
The Municipality of Jasper will offer free passes for its recreation facilities to residents 75 and over beginning by June 1 and continuing annually thereafter.
This comes following an advocacy effort from the Jasper Seniors Society, which passed a motion during its Jan. 9 meeting to request the municipality to consider issuing free passes to seniors 75-plus for the aquatic and the activity centres.
鈥淣ot only would this encourage physical well-being but [it would] also enhance the mental well-being of individuals who are perhaps living on their own and could benefit from being with others,鈥� the society wrote in a letter to council.
鈥淚t is also a great gesture of appreciation for the many years seniors have served their community.鈥�
Betsy DeClerq, vice president of the Jasper Seniors Society, was the one who originally came up with the idea.
鈥淲e鈥檙e excited about the possibility, because there are seniors in our community that are on fixed incomes, so this could help quite a few seniors, I鈥檓 hoping,鈥� DeClerq said in an interview.
鈥淎nd free activity passes for 75-plus will really encourage more seniors in our community to continue to be active and improve their fitness level.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 a win-win for seniors and our community to keep everybody healthy and fit,鈥� she added.
The 2021 federal census showed that Jasper had 225 residents aged 75-plus residing in Jasper.
The municipality had 13 active facility memberships among this demographic, with these memberships ranging in length and the facilities accessed, for a total revenue of $4,580.
Should council pass this motion, refunds would be issued to existing passholders that will total about $3,500, administration noted.
Council voted unanimously in favour of the free passes during its April 18 meeting.
Coun. Helen Kelleher-Empey noted how the municipality had a similar program for local youth and that this pass wouldn鈥檛 be a significant revenue draw.
鈥淚 think this is a very important program for our seniors.鈥�
Coun. Kathleen Waxer added how it was important to recognize the contributions of residents who have been with the community for many years.
鈥淓ven though we do have a program that covers vulnerability, I think the respect for and value for the contribution is the factor that鈥檚 making me [want] to move forward on this.鈥�
Mayor Richard Ireland also voiced support for the motion but was 鈥渃ontinuously concerned about the principles on which we are acting and our failure to document those principles.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 looking for something that will allow a future council to go back and see what drove us,鈥� Ireland said.
鈥淲e will recognize service because seniors aged 75 must have contributed something. What if there is a request to reduce it to 70 or 65 or 55, as lots of groups now recognize seniors at 55? There must be some factual basis, it seems to me, to drive it.鈥�
Council directed administration to return to a future committee of the whole meeting with a draft Free Recreation Access Policy.
